The tax scams really are heating up as the federal filing deadline nears. The IRS issued a warning Friday about a new email phishing scam using the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service name.

The fake emails may include the following message, the IRS says: “Your reported 2013 income is flagged for review due to a document processing error. Your case has been forwarded to the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance. To avoid delays processing your 2013 filing contact the Taxpayer Advocate Service for resolution assistance.”

The email directs you to click on links that supposedly provide information about the "advocate" assigned to your case or that let you "review reported income." The links lead to web pages that solicit personal information.

Don't respond to the email or click on the links, the IRS warns.

Instead, forward the scam emails to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov. You can read more about the scam here and more about IRS phishing scams here.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is a legitimate IRS organization that helps taxpayers resolve federal tax issues. The IRS, including the taxpayer advocate, does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email, texting or any social media.

The IRS last week had warned about a similar scam, this one occurring over the phone, that had stolen more than $1 million from people nationwide. Read my warning about that here.

A Lansdale man lost $4,000 to the scam last week. Read the report about that by my colleague Frank Warner here.

I subscribe to the Morning Call, what I want to know is why your paper handles everything thru an automated process. I cannot talk to a human being! Twice in less than 2 months we have not received a newspaper on a Saturday morning along with a few other neighbors on our street, yet everyone else in the neighborhood received theirs. I called the morning call and was told by an automated voice we would receive by 1:30 pm that day. Never received. I also emailed the paper and was told I would receive.

Today it happened again, I was told by your automated response we would receive by 1:30pm and I also emailed and received a response at 8:45 that we would have in 1 hour and 20 minutes. My neighbors did not receive either.
At 3 pm 2 of my neighbors got their paper but myself and another did NOT. How is this responsible???? How do we know if the Morning Call is really giving credits for undelivered papers. We pay for this delivery and when we do not get the paper we have NO one to discuss why this is happening. Tell me who I can contact to discuss this.